Brake beam



Sept. 11, 1953 J. M. WELLES 6 BRAKE BEAM Filed May 15, 1955 3Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. J05P4 M4877 M64455 Sept. 11, 1956 J w L s2,762,466

BRAKE BEAM Filed May 13, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOSJ /rMGO/V/I/ (066.465

J. M. WELLES BRAKE BEAM Sept. 11, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 13,1955 I N V EN TOR. JOSEDA MflF/M/ 4454465 BRAKE BEAM Joseph MartinWelles, Pasadena, Calif. Application May 13, 1955, Serial No. 508,206-8- Claims. (Cl. 188-226.1)

My invention comprises .a brake beam and more specifically a brake beamfor use on the ordinary truck or..bogie.for railroad. cars. A brake beamin accordance withmyinvention comprises a horizontal beam havingcompression .andtension members formed integral therewith from onepieceof forged metal to give the same rigidity. The means for fastening theheads and safety guards and brakerods are formed in this integral piece.

-In general,.my invention comprises the formation of a brake beam havinga compression member, a fulcrum member, a .tension member and means forattaching safety..guards, heads and brake rods stamped from one sheet of.steel which is then forged into a completed unitary construction.

An advantage of my invention is that there are no bolted, welded orother joints to cause weakness in the final construction of thecompression, tension and fulcrum members.

' Another advantage of my. invention is that no castings are bolted orwelded to form the beam.

Another advantage of my invention is that the means for. hanging safetyguards, heads and brake rods are integral members which cannot shakeloose and destroy the safety. advantages.

.Otherobjects and .advantages of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description of apreferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation showing my invention in place on a railroadtruck or bogie.

Fi'gure Z'isthetop beam view-of my brake beam.

. .Figure 3 isan endelevation.

Figurel vis a sectional view taken Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken Figures 2 and 8.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a partial perspective of the end of my brake beam with thehead and key plate fastened thereon.

Figure 10 is a partial perspective of the end of my brake beam with thehead.

Figure 11 is a perspective of a head.

Figure 12 is a perspective of a key plate.

Figures 13, 14 and 15 are partial perspectives of modifications of theend by my beam showing various types of ends where the head is attached.

Figure 16 is a front view of a modification.

Figure 17 is a partial top view of a modified form of the fulcrummember.

Figure 18 is a sectional view taken on line 18 18 of Figure 17.

Figure 19 is a sectional view taken on line 19-19 of Figure 18.

on line 4--4 of on line 5-5 of on line 6-6 of on line 7-7 of on line 8-8of 2,762,466 Pgatented Sept. 11', 1956 Figure 20 is apartialperspectivetof the modification shown in Figure 17.

Anordinary railroad truck ,or bogie no matter ;how many wheels areincluded therein, in general comprises a cast web '1 which carries thejournal boxes 2 and avarious springs and bolsters (not illustrated).Tothis truck are attached brake shoes 7 by means of a head 5 attached toa brake beam 3 and swinging on hangers .4.

.The head 5 carries a key plate 6 to. secure thereon the brake shoe 7.The brake beams 3 are actuated by means of a brake rod 19 which attachesto the center of the brake beam 3 as will be more fully describedhereinafter.

preventing the dropping upon the tracks of the vbrake beam 3.

My invention does not comprise any of the previously set forth parts butis specifically directed to the ,con-

struction of the brake beam 3 itself. I have heretofore described andillustrated one type of truck. To anyone familiar with the art, it willbe readily apparent that my brake beam can be used with any of thetrucks now used. Brake beams now in use have parallel. compressionmembers running across the trucks which are strengthened by means oftriangular tension member and a fulcrum member. These have heretoforebeen formed-of bars welded together or bar stocks or forgings orcastings welded or bolted together. As can be seen, the strength of sucha beam is only asvstrong as the joint. Due to the severe vibrations towhich such structures are subject, the bolts often break or thenutsthereon back off or the welds crystallize causing a failure at thejuncture.

A brake beam constructed in accordance with myxinvention is made of onesheet of metal -as:fo1lows:

In Figure 2 is shown the final configuration of one form of myinvention.This is made ofa sheetof metal andthen the same is bent by forging orlike processto make a channel shaped compression member 11 (Figure 10).At the same time, the two parallel sides .of the sheet form the tensionmembers 13 and 13' and fulcrum members 14 and 14. A closure plate 16.can'be welded at the pointwhere the fulcrum members and tension membersmeetto space the two sides of the tension members 13 .and13' apart. Ofcourse,-such a closure plate-16 .is not always necessary but is addedmerely to maintain the spacing. As will be seen, this forms a unitconstruction having a compression member 11 for the brake beam 3 and thetension and fulcrum members 13 and 13, 14 and 14' formed from a singlesheet of metal forged to form a channel shaped compression member andparallel double fulcrum and tension members.

To give the above referred structure further rigidity, during theforging and bending from the fiat sheet any desired flanges such asthose shown at 23 and 24 may be formed on the tension members 13 and 13.

Referring specifically to Figure 6, the fulcrum members are forged orbent to form the parallel tabs 17 and 18 between which is placed thebrake rod 19 which is held in position by a pin 20 through the bores 21and 21.

At the ends, my brake beam is formed to make a U shaped end 21 to whichis attached a head 22. In Figures 13, 14 and 15 are shown variousmanners of forming the flanges to form the end of the brake beam towhich the head is attached. These comprise the U- shaped channel 21 inwhich the flanges 23 and 24 cease at the start of the projection for theU-shaped member 21. In Figure 15 these flanges are continued to the endof channel 21. Another form has various bends made in the end as shownin Figure 14 to further strengthen the end of the brake beam. It shouldbe specially noted that all of these modifications incorporate theprinciple of a single unitary sheet of material forged and bent to formthe finished brake beam. v

One of the advantages of my invention is that the safety guard is notmerely bolted or Welded to the tension members 13 and 13 as in previousconstruction but is made as an integral part. This is done by having thelower plates of-the tension members 13 and 13 punched out as shown inFigure so as to make a U-shaped strap 26 which can ride upon the brakebeam support 8. Of course, a wear shoe or rub plate 27 can be weldedthereon to prevent wear.

In Figures 17 to 20 inclusive, I show another form of construction forthe fulcrum members 14 and 14' and means of attaching the brake rod. Inthis type of construction, the one side of the fulcrum member 14 has atab 29 forged thereon which is bent down and the other member 14' has atab 30 which is bent upwardly to form a parallel slot 28 through whichthe brake rod can be passed. The tabs 29 and 30 have the bores 31 for akey or bolt hole.

In some of the more modern trucks or bogies the hanger 4 for the brakebeam has been disposed of and in its place, a guide 33 has beenpositioned on the inside of the cast web 1 in which an extension of thebrake beam slides. To provide for this type of truck, I prefer to usethe structure shown in Figure 14 wherein the head is attached to thesection 34 which is the normal U-shaped end 21 and to make a U-shapedextension 35, extending therefrom which rides in the guides 33. Ofcourse, to prevent wear between the guides 33 and the extension 35 anytype of wear shoe may be incorporated. Thus, it will be seen that myinvention can be used with either the hanger type of truck or with theguide type.

I claim:

1. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members.

2. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, and integral strengtheningflanges on said tension members.

3. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, and integral tabs formed on saidfulcrum members for attaching a brake rod.

4. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, integral strengthening flangeson said tension members, and integral tabs formed on said fulcrummembers for attaching a brake rod.

5. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression memher, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, said tension members havingU-shaped straps formed integrally therein to ride on a safety guard.

6. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member, and fulcrum members, integral strengthening flangeson said tension members, said tension members having U-shaped strapsformed integrally therein to ride on a safety guard.

7. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression memher, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, integral strengthening flangeson said tension members, integral tabs formed on said fulcrum membersfor attaching a brake rod, said tension membersv having U-shaped strapsformed integrally therein to ride on a safety guard.

8. A brake beam formed from a single sheet of material bent to form achannel shaped compression member, with integrally formed opposedfulcrum members and tension members projecting from the flanges of thecompression member and fulcrum members, and an integral channel shapedextension at the ends of said compression member to act as a headsupport.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS567,664 Sullivan et a1 "Sept. 15, 1896 803,313 Streib Oct. 31, 19052,499,899 Baselt Mar. 7, 1950

